City will continue running Beavermead

Capital projects at the campground are deferred

Peterborough This Week

(PETERBOROUGH) Highlights from council Monday night:

- Beavermead campground will continue to be run by the City through 2012.

Consultant Jon Linton presented his findings on the campground to committee of the whole on Jan. 23. He found the campground is only at 22 per cent occupancy, well below the industry standard of 40 to 50 per cent. But at 22 per cent, the City is breaking even, plus the people who come are spending money in the community. Most campers are from out of town. He proposed a 10 per cent rate increase.

Donna Hinde, a partner with The Planning Partnership, suggested a new gatehouse and an accessible washroom/shower building.

Some capital projects at the campground, which approved as part of the 2012 capital budget, were sent back to staff.

- The City will sell the old fire hall at 741 Monaghan Rd.. The property is 0.71 acres and the 7,211 square-foot fire hall was built in 1954.

- The City will demolish the house they bought in 1981 at 567 Corrigan Hill Rd. Repairing the house would cost more than $100,000 over the next 13 years while demolition will cost $35,000. The house was bought for parkland.

- The budget for renovating Peterborough Museum and Archives will increase from $150,000 to $650,000 to expand the scope of the renovations.

- Council received an update on Our Space drop-in centre, which showed its plan to enhance rather than duplicate services offered in the City. The bidding process for the drop-in centre role will determine the next phase for Our Space.

- The City is going to set up a budget and take bids on dealing with the environmental issues at the former landfill on Harper Road. The site operated from the mid 1940s to the 1960s and back then did not need to be specifically engineered as a landfill. Now contaminates have been found in the ground around the site.